People Like Us (2012)

People Like Us Synopsis

From DreamWorks Pictures comes People Like Us, a drama/comedy about family, inspired by true events, starring Chris Pine (Star Trek) as Sam, a twenty-something, fast-talking salesman, whose latest deal collapses on the day he learns that his father has suddenly died. Against his wishes, Sam is called home, where he must put his father's estate in order and reconnect with his estranged family. In the course of fulfilling his father's last wishes, Sam uncovers a startling secret that turns his entire world upside down: He has a 30-year-old sister Frankie whom he never knew about (Elizabeth Banks). As their relationship develops, Sam is forced to rethink everything he thought he knew about this family—and re-examine his own life choices in the process.

People Like Us was inspired by true events, and one of the extras, “Number One with a Bullet will let fans learn the facts. Unfortunately, if you nab a DVD copy of this one, you’ll miss out on the true story segment, as well as a few of the other prominent featurettes. You will get a couple of the audio commentaries with the DVD, so if you’re not really a bonus features sort of person, that may be your best bet.

If raunch-coms are your thing you were living the dream this weekend. Pervy teddy bears and a chorus of male strippers dominated the box office, snagging the top two spots and almost $100 million between them.

People Like Us was a labor of love for writer/director Alex Kurtzman. In development for eight years, the film is based on his own experience and is a deeply personal story. But for a filmmaker this can be a double-edged sword. The passion drives the project forward, but how do stop yourself from being too stringent and inflexible about the material? For Kurtzman it’s about not being beholden to the words themselves, but instead their spirit.

It’s a jam-packed week for the Rotten Watch with four movies hitting the big screen. So let’s not dilly-dally around when we’ve got strippers, teddy bears, estranged families and unfortunately more Madea

One of the things I've come to learn about science fiction over the years of slowly developing an appreciation for the genre, is that - if done well - science fiction has a way of bringing out the true spirit of humanity. Some of the most emotional stories I've seen and read have fallen under the realm of sci-fi. For example, Alias - a series which veered into sci-fi territory, especially in its later seasons - had a strong family element to its story.

Last summer Disney, and their subsidiary DreamWorks, had one of the biggest hits of the summer and of the entire year with The Help, which is pretty much the opposite of everything you usually expect from the word "summer movie."

Mega producer and screenwriter Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek, Transformers, a bunch of other stuff) is making his directorial debut this year, but it's not on nearly the size of project you're used to seeing from him. A human-sized drama about a brother and sister